Availability and Accessibility to Support. Three
themes related to the fathers’ experiences with
the availability of and accessibility to resources
emerged: limited professional support, limited
community support, and family support responsibilities
(Table 2).
The majority of partners did not have access to
any form of professional support. Some partners
wanted professionals to be more proactive in providing
support interventions and directly inquiring
about their support needs. The partners often reported
that they were too proud to ask:
When my wife first met the doctor they
should have set up a separate appointment
for me to say this could be affecting you.We
would like to see you for half an hour. I am
sure someone could have asked me questions
and figured out that I was struggling
and needed support. I guess I could have
gone on my own, but I was too proud to ask.
All fathers reported difficulties in accessing community
support for themselves and their partners.
Most of the fathers wanted to be given information
about community health care providers prior
to leaving the hospital. They also would have preferred
that an initial contact would be made for
them. As one partner explained: